December 10
Events *1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V. *1508 - The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice. *1520 - Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate. *1684 - Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley. *1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state. *1836 - Emory College (now Emory University) is chartered in Oxford. *1861 - American Civil War: the Confederate States of America accepts a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy. *1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army troops reach Savannah. *1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps. *1869 - Wyoming grants women the right to vote. * 1869 - The first American chapter of Kappa Sigma is founded at the University of Virginia. *1898 - Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. *1899 - The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is founded at the City College of New York. *1901 - The first Nobel Prizes are awarded. *1902 - Women are given the right to vote in Tasmania. *1904 - The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is founded at the College of Charleston in Charleston. *1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize of any kind. *1907 - The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clashed with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals who have been vivisected. *1932 - Thailand adopts a Constitution and becomes a constitutional monarchy. *1935 - The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, was given to halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago. This award was given to the best college football player east the Mississippi River. *1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs his Instrument of Abdication. *1941 - World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya. * 1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland. *1948 - The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. *1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan. *1963 - The United States Air Force's X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled by Robert McNamara. *1968 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo. *1971 - Jim Hart throws a football for a record 98 yards, the longest recorded throw. *1978 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. *1981 - The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia. *1983 - Democracy is restored in Argentina with the assumption of President Raúl Alfonsín. *1989 - Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement that peacefully changed the second oldest communist country into a democratic society. *1996 - Rwandan Genocide: Military Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand down. *2006 - One million Lebanese opposition supporters gather in downtown Beirut, calling for the government to resign. Births *1394 - King James I of Scotland (d. 1437) *1452 - Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1531) *1588 - Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (d. 1637) *1750 - Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore (d. 1799) *1751 - George Shaw, English botanist and zoologist (d. 1813) *1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator (d. 1851) *1804 - Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi, German mathematician (d. 1851) *1805 - Josef Skoda, Bohemian physician (d. 1881) *1815 - Ada Lovelace, British mathematician (d. 1852) *1820 - Princess Elizabeth of Clarence (d. 1821) *1821 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (d. 1877) *1822 - César Franck, Belgian composer and organist (d. 1890) *1824 - George MacDonald, British writer and preacher (d. 1905) *1830 - Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886) *1851 - Melvil Dewey, American librarian, (d. 1931) *1855 - Marios Varvoglis, Greekcomposer of the Modern Era (d. 1967) *1870 - Pierre Louÿs, French author (d. 1925) * 1870 - Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (d. 1933) * 1870 - Mary Bonaparte, pretender to the French imperial throne (d. 1947) *1872 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d. 1956) *1878 - Rajaji, India's freedom fighter and the first Governor General of independent India (d.1972) *1882 - Otto Neurath, Austrian philosopher (d. 1945) *1884 - Zinaida Serebriakova, Russian-born painter (d. 1967) *1886 - Marco Minghetti, Italian statesman (b. 1813) *1891 - Sir Harold Alexander, British Army Field Marshal, first Earl of Tunis. (d. 1969) * 1891 - Nelly Sachs, German-born writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970) *1903 - Una Merkel, American actress (d. 1986) *1907 - Rumer Godden (Margaret Rumer Godden), British writer (d. 1998) * 1907 - Lucien Laurent, French footballer (d. 2005) *1908 - Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (d. 1992) *1909 - Hermes Pan, American choreographer and dancer (d. 1990) *1911 - Chet Huntley, American journalist (d. 1974) *1912 - Philip A. Hart, U.S. Senator (d. 1976) *1913 - Morton Gould, American composer (d. 1996) * 1913 - Harry Locke, British character actor (d. 1987) *1914 - Dorothy Lamour, American actress (d. 1996) *1917 - Sultan Yahya Petra, King of Malaysia (d. 1979) *1918 - Anne Gwynne, American actress (d. 2003) * 1918 - Anatoli Tarasov, Russian hockey coach (d. 1995) *1919 - Alexander Courage, American composer *1920 - Reginald Rose, American writer (d. 2002) * 1920 - Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian writer (d. 1977) *1922 - Lucía Hiriart, First Lady of Chile (1974-1990), wife of Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet *1925 - Carolyn Kizer, American poet *1928 - Dan Blocker, American actor (d. 1972) *1933 - Mako, Japanese-born American actor (d. 2006) *1934 - Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994) *1935 - Terry Allcock, Retired English Footballer *1938 - Yuri Temirkanov, Russian orchestral conductor *1939 - Barry Cunliffe, English university professor *1941 - Chad Stuart, British folk singer (Chad and Jeremy) * 1941 - Fionnula Flanagan, Irish actress * 1941 - Tommy Rettig, American actor (d. 1996) *1944 - Steve Renko, American baseball player *1946 - Thomas Lux, American poet *1947 - Douglas Kenney, American humorist (d. 1980) * 1947 - Rəsul Quliyev, Azerbaijani politician and chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party. * 1947 - Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player *1948 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004) *1950 - Tom Towles, American actor *1951 - Ellen Nikolaysen, Norwegian singer *1952 - Clive Anderson, British television host * 1952 - Susan Dey, American actress *1956 - Tim Kurkjian, American baseball writer and analyst for ESPN *1957 - Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor * 1957 - Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji *1960 - Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director *1965 - J Mascis, American musician *1966 - Mel Rojas, Major League Baseball pitcher *1967 - Harland Williams, Canadian actor *1969 - Rob Blake, Canadian hockey player *1971 - Brian Nichols, charged with the murder of Rowland W. Barnes and two others on March 11, 2005 *1972 - Brian Molko, Belgian-born singer and songwriter (Placebo) * 1972 - Dimitri Tikovoi, French-born record producer * 1972 - Marcos di Palma, Argentine racing driver *1974 - Meg White, American drummer (The White Stripes) *1975 - Josip Skoko, Australian footballer *1978 - Donna Williams, co-founder of Neopets * 1978 - Summer Phoenix, American actress * 1978 - Brandon Novak, skateboarder *1979 - Matt Bentley, American professional wrestler *1980 - Sarah Chang, American violinist * 1980 - Ledley King, English footballer *1980 - Massari, Arab Singer *1981 - Taufik Batisah, Singaporean singer * 1981 - Fábio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer * 1981 - Ryan Pini, Papua New Guinea swimmer and Commonwealth Games Gold medalist *1982 - Tim Deegan, MuchMusic VJ *1983 - Patrick Flueger, American actor * 1983 - Zé Kalanga, Angolan footballer * 1983 - Habib Mohamed, Ghanaian footballer * 1983 - Katrin Siska, Estonian singer * 1984 - Jayson Paul, American Professional wrestler *1985 - T. J. Hensick, American Professional Ice Hockey Player * 1985 - Raven-Symoné, American actress and singer *1986 - Matthew Bates, English footballer * 1986 - Tsukada Ryoichi, Japanese Acrobat and Pop Idol *1987 - Gonzalo Higuaín, French footballer of Argentine origins *1990 - Giulia Boverio, Italian actress Deaths * 949 - Herman I *1041 - Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1010) *1198 - Averroes, Arab physician and philosopher (b. 1126) *1508 - René II (b. 1451) *1603 - William Gilbert, English scientist (b. 1544) *1618 - Giulio Caccini, Italian composer *1626 - Edmund Gunter, English mathematician (b. 1581) *1665 - Tarquinio Merula, Italian composer *1736 - António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese ruler of Malta (b. 1663) *1831 - Thomas Seebeck, Baltic German physicist (b. 1770) *1850 - François Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist and geologist (b. 1787) *1865 - King Léopold I of Belgium (b. 1790) *1896 - Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (b. 1833) *1911 - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, British botanist (b. 1817) *1917 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823) *1920 - Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturing pioneer (b. 1868) *1928 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, British architect, designer, and illustrator (b. 1868) *1936 - Bobby Abel, English test cricketer (b. 1857) * 1936 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867) *1938 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,the founder of the Republic of Turkey and its first President (b. 1881) *1941 - Colin Kelly, American pilot (b. 1915) *1944 - John Henry Cound Brunt, Victoria Cross holder (b. 1922) *1945 - Theodor Dannecker, SS officer (b. 1913) *1946 - Walter Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1887) * 1946 - Damon Runyon, American writer (b. 1884) *1951 - Algernon Blackwood, British writer (b. 1869) *1953 - Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-born scholar and translator (b. 1872) *1967 - Otis Redding, American soul singer (b. 1941) *1968 - Thomas Merton, American monk and author (b. 1915) * 1968 - Karl Barth, Swiss theologian (b. 1886) * 1968 - George Forrest, Northern Irish MP (b. 1921) *1969 - Carlos Marighella, Brazilian politician *1978 - Edward D. Wood, American filmmaker (b. 1924) *1979 - Ann Dvorak, American film actress (b. 1912) *1982 - Freeman F. Gosden, American actor (b. 1899) *1986 - Susan Cabot, American actress (b. 1927) * 1986 - Kate Wolf, American folk singer and songwriter (b. 1942) *1987 - Jascha Heifetz, Russian-born violinist (b. 1901) *1990 - Armand Hammer, American industrialist and art collector (b. 1898) *1991 - Greta Kempton, American artist (b. 1901) * 1991 - Headman Shabalala, South African singer and member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (b. *1991 - Diego de Jesus Perez Essquivel, A Mexican soccer player 1901) *1992 - Dan Maskell, English tennis commentator (b. 1908) *1994 - Alexander Wilson, Canadian and Notre Dame athlete (b. 1905) * 1994 - Keith Joseph, British politician (b. 1918) *1996 - Faron Young, American singer (b. 1932) *1999 - Rick Danko, Canadian bassist and singer (The Band) (b. 1942) * 1999 - Franjo Tuđman, President of Croatia (b. 1922) *2000 - Marie Windsor, American film actress (b. 1919) *2001 - Ashok Kumar, Indian actor (b. 1911) *2002 - Andres Küng, Swedish-Estonian politician, journalist (b. 1945) *2005 - Eugene J. McCarthy, U.S. Senator (b. 1916) * 2005 - Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (b. 1940) *2006 - Augusto Pinochet, military president of Chile (b. 1915) Holidays and observances * Human Rights Day - United Nations * Presentation Ceremony of the Nobel Prize External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:December